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The Pembroke Hill School
The Pembroke Hill School (usually referred to as Pembroke Hill) is a nonsectarian, coeducational, private preparatory school for about 1,200 students in early years (age 2 years) through 12th grade, separated into four sections: early years-prekindergarten (early childhood school), kindergarten-5th grade (lower school), 6th-8th grade (middle school), and 9th-12th grade (upper school). It is located on two campuses in theCountry Club District of Kansas City, Missouri, near the Country Club Plaza. History & Founding Vassie James Ward Hill, a prominent Kansas Citian and Vassar College graduate born in 1875, gained a considerable fortune upon the death of her first husband, Hugh Ward, a son of pioneer Seth E. Ward. She then married Albert Ross Hill, formerly president of the University of Missouri. At the time, Kansas Citians of means commonly sent their children to boarding schools on the east coast. Hill did not want to send her daughter and three sons "back east." She believed they should be able to have an equal education in Kansas City. This led her to research the workings of college preparatory schools, especially the progressive education of the Country Day School movement. In 1910, using funds from twelve Kansas City businessmen, Hill founded the Country Day School for boys, which accepted both day students and boarders. (Boarding ceased in the 1950s.) The initial enrollment was 20 students but grew to 52 within three years. The first "country day school" in the Midwest, it sat on what is today Pembroke Hill's Ward Parkway Campus, to the west of the Country Club Plaza at the intersection of State Line Road. Three years later, Ruth Carr Patton and Frances Matteson Bowersock joined with Hill to found the Sunset Hill School, named after Hill's favorite area on the Vassar campus. Sunset Hill was located on what today is Pembroke Hill's Wornall Campus, south of the Country Club Plaza. At the time of its founding, the campus overlooked the Kansas City Country Club (today Loose Park). It also includes a portion of the battlefield from the Battle of Westport. In 1925, some educators and students left the Country Day School to form the Pembroke School for boys. Their endeavor failed amidst the Great Depression, and the two schools re-merged in 1933 to form the Pembroke-Country Day School, keeping the Country Day School's original campus. It usually was referred to as "Pem-Day." Mission Pembroke Hill is a community of learners - students, faculty/staff, parents and alumni. We are dedicated to helping our students achieve educational excellence while guiding them to become individuals of character who believe that they can and do make a difference in our school community and the community beyond Pembroke Hill. Our school enjoys the dedicated support of all members of the school community, and we are well aware that it truly takes the efforts of our entire community for our school to be the dynamic and successful school that it is. It is often said at Pembroke Hill that when a child enrolls in our school, the entire family enrolls! We are proud of our diverse community that includes individuals who represent all geographic, ethnic, religious and socio-economic sectors. It is this diversity that makes us strong and provides the school with many opportunities for wonderful discussions, insights and understanding.